Trump’s border czar says ‘I don’t care what judges think’ as deportations may have violated court order: Live updates
D.C. court to hear questions Trump administration intentionally defied court order over Venezuelan deportation flights
The Trump administration has deported hundreds of people from the U.S. after invoking a wartime law to speed up the deportations of individuals connected to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, in defiance of a court order.
A federal judge temporarily blocked the administration’s ability to use the law, the Alien Enemies Act 1798, and ordered any planes flying migrants out of the country to turn around.
Border czar Tom Homan told Fox News: “We’re not stopping. I don’t care what the judges think. I don’t care what the left thinks. We’re coming.”
A further court hearing is set for 5 p.m.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump declared that presidential pardons issued by his predecessor, Joe Biden, are “void, vacant, and of no further force or effect” because the Democrat allegedly signed off on them using an autopen rather than his real signature.
The president claimed without evidence that Biden was not even aware of the pardons. Trump further threatened members of the House select committee that probed the events of January 6, 2021, warning they can expect to be investigated.
Senator Adam Schiff responded on X: “The members of the Jan 6 Committee are all proud of our work. Your threats will not intimidate us. Or silence us.”
Coming up: Trump officials ordered explain if deportations violated judge's order
A judge has ordered Trump administration officials to explain whether they violated his order by deporting hundreds of Venezuelan gang members over the weekend, a move that could spark a constitutional clash between the president and the federal judiciary.
The White House claims that federal courts “have no jurisdiction” over President Donald Trump’s authority to expel foreign enemies under an 18th-century law historically used only in wartime.
Judge James Boasberg in Washington scheduled a hearing for 5 p.m. ET on Monday and directed the government to provide details on the timing of the flights that transported the Venezuelans to El Salvador, including whether they took off after his order was issued.
The hearing was scheduled in response to an overnight filing by the American Civil Liberties Union and other civil rights groups seeking clarity on the flights.
The rapid developments could signal an escalation in Trump's challenge to the Constitution's system of checks and balances and the independence of the judicial branch of government.
Reuters
A former Proud Boys leader was freed from a 17-year prison sentence by Trump. Then his problems began
Richard Hall writes:
On the day Joe Biggs found out he was being released from a lengthy jail sentence by the newly inaugurated Donald Trump, a prison officer was on hand to dampen his mood.
“You're still gonna get screwed,” Biggs recalls the guard warning him. “You're not getting pardoned. You're only getting your sentence commuted, so you're still a terrorist.”
It would turn out to be a prescient parting shot.
Read on...
A former Proud Boys leader was freed from prison by Trump. Then his problems began
State Dept says South African ambassador must leave U.S. by Friday
The State Department says South Africa’s ambassador to the U.S. has until Friday to leave the country.
After Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool was no longer welcome in the U.S. and posted his decision Friday on social media, South African embassy staff were summoned to the State Department and given a formal diplomatic note explaining the move, the department said.
“We made the embassy aware that Ambassador Rasool has been found unacceptable by the United States to be a representative of his country,” the department said.
It said Rasool’s diplomatic privileges and immunities expired Monday and he would be required to leave the United States by March 21. It isn’t clear if he’s in the U.S. now.
Rubio announced his decision in a post on X, accusing Rasool of being a “race-baiting politician” who hates President Donald Trump.
COMMENT: What to expect as Trump and Putin thrash out a ceasefire in Ukraine
Mark Almond writes:
The Kremlin has now confirmed that Vladimir Putin will speak on the phone to Donald Trump tomorrow. The White House says Ukraine’s President Zelensky will come to Washington on Friday. Peace – or at least a ceasefire – seems very likely soon.
But never forget, the devil is in the details – and a hastily cobbled-together deal could be very fragile. There will be hardliners on either side who don’t want to give peace a chance.
Let’s consider what might be in a deal agreeable to Trump and Putin – and swallowable by Zelensky.
Read on...
What to expect as Trump and Putin thrash out a ceasefire in Ukraine
Trump threatens Iran, saying leadership will be accountable to actions of Houthis
President Donald Trump has said that Iran and its leadership will be held responsible for the actions of the Houthis in Yemen after the U.S. launched strikes against the group over the weekend.
Trump wrote on Truth Social:
Let nobody be fooled! The hundreds of attacks being made by Houthi, the sinister mobsters and thugs based in Yemen, who are hated by the Yemeni people, all emanate from, and are created by, IRAN. Any further attack or retaliation by the “Houthis” will be met with great force, and there is no guarantee that that force will stop there. Iran has played “the innocent victim” of rogue terrorists from which they’ve lost control, but they haven’t lost control. They’re dictating every move, giving them the weapons, supplying them with money and highly sophisticated Military equipment, and even, so-called, “Intelligence.” Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon, from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of IRAN, and IRAN will be held responsible, and suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire!
DONALD J. TRUMP,
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Trump boder czar defends deportation flight
Speaking to reporters outside the White House this morning, Border Czar Tom Homan defended the administration’s decision to continue with a deportation flight in defiance of a court order from a judge.
He said: "The plane was already over international waters with a plane full of terrorists and significant public safety threats and turn the plane around over international waters and refuel over international waters, come back with terrorists back to the United States.”
“The president did exactly the right thing,” he added. “We removed terrorists. That should be a celebration in this country. “
Voice of America journalists sound off on ‘betrayal’ by Trump
In what is being described as “Bloody Saturday,” over 1,300 employees at Voice of America were placed on indefinite suspension this weekend after President Donald Trump issued a Friday night edict ordering the U.S. Agency for Global Media, the network’s parent agency, to eliminate its workforce and activities not required by law.
With the state-funded broadcaster — which has been seen as a vital part of America’s soft diplomacy — going largely silent after more than 80 years on the air, VOA journalists and executives are sounding off over what they see as a “betrayal of the ideals” that drove the organization, adding that it will only be “celebrated” by America’s adversaries.
Justin Baragona reports.
VOA journalists sound off on ‘betrayal’ after Trump dismantles broadcaster
Watch: Border czar says 'I don't care what the judges think' about deportations
PREMIUM: Trump’s 200% tariff on EU wine could pop the champagne bubble
Rosamund Hall writes:
The news cycle regarding tariffs is giving me flashbacks to my teenage history lessons, stirring memories about the repeal of the Corn Law and WE Gladstone’s subsequent budgets that removed nearly all protectionist regulations – Mr Bromfield, if you’re reading this, I hope you’re impressed.
Whilst economics is not my strength, I am aware that most economists assert that free trade is generally regarded as a good thing: more choice for consumers, competitive pricing and greater economic growth. Donald Trump obviously hasn’t got that memo.
You might be wondering what a wine writer is doing wading into this murky water of tariffs – well, so am I, but it’s because of one thing: the threat of tariffs on booze from the EU. Normally, I’m writing about my despair at our own country's approach to alcohol taxation, but Trump is rather stealing the headline on pretty much everything, so it might as well include this too.
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